He is a 20-pound miniature Schnauzer that thinks he is a 200-pound pit bull. Six years ago, this month, I carried him home from his birth mom. I found him online and fell in love with him. He was true to his online profile. He is loving and kind, loves snuggles, and is super smart, but only with those who in his inner circle. To outsiders, he is loud, barky, and quite frankly annoying.
We have been to many trainers, through several classes, and yet, he is still at his core, afraid. Afraid of losing me and so anything he perceives as a threat, is to be yelled at, circled around, and lunged at. It amuses me that this little ball of fluff thinks he can scare away any perceived threat that I apparently can’t handle.
Mark & I travel for work quite a bit. We have a dedicated dog sitter for these occasions, as I don’t want to add to the stress of placing him in a kennel. When the sitter met him for the first time, I was there, and he was terrible. I’m surprised she even agreed to keep him. The next time she saw him, I wasn’t there, and he was an angel. Loving, sweet, “best dog ever,” she said. This wasn’t the first time we have had that experience. (If you are in North Atlanta and want a great pet & people sitter, check out Pets & Peeps – https://petsandpeeps4u.com/. Karen Thompson also does artwork, and you can see her sketch of Adrian under the “Fun Stuff” tab of the website.)
Apparently, I am a resource to be guarded. He thinks he is the only one who can protect me from the evils of this world like other people, dogs, mops & leaf blowers.
This made me think about how we also guard things, especially in our work. We have tasks we feel like only we can do. However, by thinking this way, we chain ourselves to a job. We become so focused on the things only we can do that we limit our impact. You see, Adrian doesn’t realize that I can take care of myself. I don’t need him to protect me. Your tasks don’t need protection, either.
Once you allow yourself to realize that “done is better than perfect,” you begin to expand your impact and are able to do more. At HireSmart Virtual Assistants, we help businesses grow and scale by providing great workers at a fraction of the cost of a traditional hire. If you want to release some of your tasks and need a full time dedicated virtual employee, connect with me.
A very exciting podcast episode with Dave Hamilton and Shannon Jean of Small Business Show as Mark and I have shared this valuable process to stimulate your business productivity by hiring a passionate and experienced virtual employee for your team. For over a decade, we’ve been trusted in helping businesses experience their freedom from many conditions that block their full potential to focus on core duties and other important business-related activities.
You too can experience work freedom and start stimulating productivity with a virtual employee. Feel free to book an appointment with me today and I will help you strategize the process – the easy way!
A few months ago, I was having dinner with my aunt & uncle, and they shared a compelling story with me about my Grandmother Mamie.
As with a lot of our grandparents in my generation, they had hard lives. From being born in the depression era to several wars, they learned to make due, adapt, and innovate.
Being the parents of three children, my grandparents lived in an efficient 3 bedroom / 1 bath home that completely served their needs. Can you imagine sharing a bath with your kids in today’s time? No, thank you. And yet, it was perfectly acceptable.
They had air conditioning in their bedroom through a window unit. I remember on hot summer days; I would sneak into their room to cool off. I never thought anything about it growing up.
But, that small room with the air conditioning was a multipurpose room. It was where my Grandmother worked and helped to support her family.
You see, I never knew that my Grandmother worked for an insurance company from home. She would assess fire damage, write up the reports & submit them to the office. She was a top producer in the company working at home with 3 kids. She was an original remote team member when there was minimal technology. She had a desk and a landline and a small airconditioned room.
How was she a top producer? She outsourced. It turns out my Grandmother couldn’t type. She was determined not to let that stop her, so she hired a typist. She would do the forms/ analysis and then submit them to the typist. She was able to do twice as much. She focused on what she was good at and had others do what she wasn’t. This enabled her to be the top producer.
It’s funny to me that 5 years after starting HireSmart, this was shared with me. You see, HireSmart is all about helping our clients do more of what they are fantastic at while letting our virtual employees be the most productive and best in the business.
If you have ever considered a virtual employee, let’s chat. BOOK HERE